Confessions
by LeeAnnP
Summary: Derrick tells Sonny, Will and Paul his connection to Zoey


The room was very quiet as Derrick paced back and forth wringing his hands, trying to decide just how he was going to tell the other men in the room, his story.

Will and Sonny sat close together holding hands, while Paul sat across from them smiling faintly yet looking a little envious.

Derrick knew their story. He knew that years before, Sonny and Paul had been in a secret relationship due to Paul being a professional pitcher and not feeling safe to come out as a gay man. That is what broke the two men up. Sonny wasn't willing to be Paul's little secret anymore.

He had learned, after meeting Sonny and Will, their fairy tale story as well. He was a witness to the almost destruction of their marriage due to Will not knowing who Paul was to Sonny. Then when Will messed up royally and had a brief fling with Paul. Derrick was surprised that Will and Sonny were so tight now after the months of therapy and counceling. Luckily for them and their daughter Arianna, it all worked out. Even though they were still seeing Will's grandmother, to make sure that they never grew so far apart again and that they communicated better than they had, which led to their problems. Along with Will's short journey into acting like his mom, Sami.

Wow...why had he gone there? His head was all over the place and by this point the three men were looking at each other and him, wondering what was taking so long.

Derrick cleared his throat. ran his hands through his hair, griping the back of his neck, he began.

"Ok... this started about 6 months ago. I came to Sonix, from a small magazine in Ohio. I was nieve in my thinking that Sonix was like the magazine I had come from. It was a family run magaine where everyone knows everyone and you can trust the person you work with. Man was I in for a shock!"

Will looked at Sonny then Paul, finally he looked at Derrick and said. "Derrick I may be almost 22 , a dad and married but I had NO CLUE what was in store for me when I first was offered a job at True Vista, and met Zoey , so don't feel too bad." he smiled at Derrick.

Derrick returned the smile . Looking down he said "Will , I appreciate you trying to make me NOT feel like a complete idot ." he sighed, rubbed his hands together, a bad habit he had picked up since working for Zoey. That woman could make anyone a nervous wreck! " After I got to Sonix, on my second day, I met Zoey"... Derrick's head whipped up because of the collective groans that had suddenly sounded throughout the room, "yeah I feel the same, although at the time I was in awe of her because she was this big time editor for a large magazine and she was taking time out of her day for a newbie like me. About maybe 5 weeks in, she called me to her office. I was scared because I thought I had done something wrong. I had been given a few small assignments and they seemed to have gone over well, but being new there, I was still anxious when it came to my work. I walked into her office , shut the door and sat down and waited to see what was about go be said." Derrick walked over to Paul's window, pushed back the curtain and stared out into the night. He couldn't see anything but his reflection in the glass but somehow that calmed him so he could continue. He turned to face the men, who by now where sitting side by side and staring at him. The chairs were facing the bed so , after a nod from Paul, he slowly sat down and continued. "So, there I was sitting and waiting for her to speak, she was staring at me, making me feel more and more nervous by the second. Finally she said, "Do you know who Paul Norita is Derrick?" I told her yes I did, who didn't? , Derrick paused to smile at Paul who, interestingly enough blushed! Wow he thought to himself, I make Paul Norita blush? Sweet. After pulling his eyes from Paul, which was proving harder to do all the time, Derrick continued. " She said, "wonderful so you would have no problem doing something for me that concerns him?" I asked her what she meant by that and she said "I'll get to that in a minute. Do you know who Sonny Kiriakis is? Will Horton? " I told her I had read your work and greatly admired it Will and had been to Sonny's club a few times and thought it was great." He heard the three men quietly say "Thank You" He nodded and continued.."So she then said, great now here is what I want you to do." She layed out to me exactly what to do, when and to report back to her. I was confused and asked her if she intended it to sound like I was spying on the three of you...she assured me quite quickly that that was not what she meant. She was sorry if it sounded like that. She said she just wanted me to pay attention what was going on because the three of you were very important people in Salem and very influential. So I agreed and left the office, got a job at this hotel, since my articles were not making me enough to be able to afford a place along with food etc. The day you checked in Paul I thought I had hit the lottery, not only could I see what was going on with you but I actually got to see you on a fairly regular basis and talk to you occasionally" Derrick could feel his face heat up and he looked down at his hands, too shy to look at Paul when he let it slip his attraction to him. Derrick thought to himself ..Great you idiot, now he knows you like him, not that he couldn't have figured it out before this. If the man has a brain cell in his head he's known for a while now. Derrick cleared his throat and , still looking down at his hands, continued. "So anyway you checked in, then Will showed up and you two came in here. I was sure I knew what was going on and I reported to Zoey, not all I thought just that you two had met. Then Sonny showed up and I had to tell him that you were busy Paul...well you know all that...so anyway as time passed and Will came here more I pretty much figured out that Will was writing an article and that Zoey was pretty much responsible for setting it up. You may have told Zoey you wanted Will to write the article Paul, but she would have made sure, either way that Will wrote it. You see, she and the owner of the magazine knew or suspected about yours and Sonny's past. She wanted what happened to happen in order to sell magazines and she didn't care how this affected Will, Sonny or you."

At this point Will interrupts and says, "You know, when I was first approached about doing this, Zoey and the owner of Sonix made it VERY clear that Paul was not to know I was married. At the time in made no sense, what difference could it possibly make if Paul knew? Then ,when Zoey said Sonny's full name, the look on the owners face gave me pause but I was so wrapped up in getting ready to do this that I disreguarded my concerns" Will turns to Sonny, puts his hand to Sonny's cheek, looks deep into his eyes and sadly says "My God Sonny, I wish I had turned down this assignment...I wish I had done so many things differently...I...am so damn sorry for everything!" A tear rolls down Will's cheek as he continues to look at his husband. Sonny grabs Will's other hand , "Will, we have been through all this. We have fought and struggled to get back the trust and love that we shared before you wrote that first article for True Vista. Let's not reopen wounds that we are so close to healing. We will be fine. This will NEVER happen again, right?" Will nods quickly, a small smile forming on his lips, as one forms on Sonny's, "ok then let's let Derrick finish telling us his story so we can figure out what to do about Zoey" Sonny winks at Will, wraps his arm around him as they once again face Derrick. Only to be surprised to see Paul and Derrick staring at each other with longing, fear and hope in both their eyes. Sonny clears his throat, which causes Derrick to jump and look at them, finally.

Derrick once again began to speak. "So after Will left that final time, I was in the hall , saw him put his ring back on and say "Oh my God..what have I done?" Sonny and Will's hands tighten on each others but they don't interrupt Derrick."I knew then that you had to be told what Zoey was up to, but before I could all hell broke moths I had felt terrible about what I was doing but I had no choice. Then the truth came out about everything between the three of you and you were dealing with the fallout. All I could do was sit, watch and pray that in the end it would work out for you all somehow. Once the dust settled, Zoey contacted me and wanted me to write an article...about everything. She wanted pics, which I didn't have" Derricks smiles at them and says "I told her my camera died and I lost the pictures...which I SWEAR I didn't take! I would not have ever done that. What I was doing was bad enough, I was not going to add that to my list of crimes. Let me tell you she was not happy. Tonight before I came in here, I called her. I told her this was wrong what she wanted me to do and I wouldn't do it. She said she'd fire me...I quit. I told her I had things on her...and I do, that I would not hesitate to use. You can have all I have on her and you are more than welcome to use them to take her down. I also told her I was going to call her boss and tell him what she was up to, and if he tried to cause any problems for me, I would go to True Vista with my story."

" Shoot! I have to call him before Zoey does, but I have time, I know where he is right now and Zoey will not be able to get in touch with him for a few hours."

As they all sat in stunned silence, Derrick looked at them and waited to see what would happen. Will and Sonny looked at each other, sighed, then Will gave a slight nod to Sonny, who said "Derrick, this is a lot to take in. We appreciate you coming to us and telling us this. We do believe you are being truthful and would be grateful for all that you have on Zoey. But I have to tell you, if you expect us to trust you right away..." Derrick cut in and said "No I don't expect any of you to trust me right now" he looks sadly at Paul, then turns back to Sonny, "But I do hope one day you will."

Paul stands up and walks to the window, mimicking what Derrick did earlier. He stared for quite a while then slowly turned around. Looking at Derrick he says "Ok Derrick I believe you too and like Sonny said, it will take time to truly trust you but I am willing to try. We need your help so we will give it a shot."

"That is all I am asking...thank you all so much!." Derrick slowly gets to his feet and walks toward the door. As he pauses, he looks at the three men who's lives have been rocked and almost destroyed by Zoey, and their own mistakes and says. "I need to call the owner of Sonix and get things set straight with him. I will go get all I have on Zoey and bring it back to you...tonight if that is ok?"

Paul nods his head. Derrick turns back towards the door and slowly opens it. As he walks through, he glances back at Paul, the look in his eyes so sad and closes the door softly. He leans back against the outside of it, closes his eyes and sighs. Then he heads toward the elevator, pulling out his phone as he goes.

Inside the room, you could hear a pin drop. The three men inside all look at one another. "Well I never expected this tonight did you Paul?" Paul looks at Sonny and says "No that was the last thing I thought would happen tonight. You know what though? It's good it's out in the open , now we can figure out what to do with Zoey."

With a smirk on his gorgeous face, Sonny looks at Will, who winks, then back at Paul and says "Yeah, then you can figure out what you are going to do about Derrick."

Paul blushes and says "I have no idea what your talking about!" Will and Sonny both chuckle as they rise to their feet, grabs each others hands and say, quite by accident at the same time "Sure Paul." They both break down and start laughing as they head towards the door.

Paul, standing back by the bed, glares at them and says "You two can stop that right now!" Then ruins it by letting a huge grin cross his face.

Busted!

Will and Sonny say their goodbyes, tell Paul to call them when they need to get together next to take care of all this, and walk out the door. As the door shuts, Sonny turns Will and places him against the wall, grabs his face and gives him a kiss. Will grabs onto Sonny and returns it with all the love he has in his heart...until they can get home.

Inside, Paul is leaning against the door, thinking about Derrick with a big grin.


End file.
